If you sat through all three Lord of the Rings films as part of Trilogy Tuesday on December 16, 2003, you got one of these. This free collectible was a surprise gift from New Line Studios and was given away for no charge beyond that of the movie ticket which, in most markets, was $25. A nice freebie and a good way to make a film frame collectible, but probably not worth paying a huge premium for.

Introduction

Star Wars and Star Trek had similar collectibles in the past, encased in clear plastic and, for the most part, they looked pretty iffy. This piece was designed to sit on a desk or shelf and is a much nicer looking collectible than previous similar efforts for other properties, and since the sculpting is right on the mark it'll make a great keepsake for those that have one.

Sculpt

It looks like it came out of the movie, although what it is, is hard to say. Is it a tombstone? Perhaps some sort of stone monolith? Whatever it is, it's pretty slick.

The names of all three films are engraved on the box along with icons representing something from the movie. On the front at the top, you can see a representation of the Eye of Sauron. It's a pretty nice weathered sculpt, but the stylized appearance is anything but subtle and some fans may have already tired of the "oh, it's supposed to be old" appearance. Still, it looks good and odds are any other way of doing it would have looked fairly awful. While it would have been nice to have a self-illuminated film frame, odds are that would have been asking too much.

As it stands, it looks good, it's a nice small size (under four inches tall), and is the sort of thing most fans could really enjoy. Or perhaps not, as the film frames are random and some people reported getting black frames that are, frankly, very boring.

Our sample had a frame of Frodo's head from Fellowship, a great shot of Merry and Pippin from Two Towers, and a shot of a green book from a scene with Gandalf and Pippin from Return of the King. Two out of three ain't bad.

Packaging

Like most ROTK-era merchandise, it comes in a blue box.

What's In The Box?

Aside from the statue and its components, there's sheet of paper explaining just what the heck this thing is as well as some bubble wrap. Not much, really.

A flyer advertising additional Sideshow-Weta collectibles was also given away in conjunction with this set that offers a 15% discount on their merchandise. As it was not included in the box we opted not to post it here at this time.

Availability

If you didn't go to Trilogy Tuesday, you'll need to go to eBay or hope a theater has surplus stock they're selling out the back door.

Fin

It's a neat gift for the Lord of the Rings fan that doesn't really collect anything. It can be had fairly cheap on eBay at press time, and it's small and isn't a calendar. As such, it's something the LOTR fan in your life might not have and might not mind getting.

If you're a fan of figural collectibles, obviously this is dullsville. But for what it is, it's a great piece and a definite step in the right direction as far as how a film frame collectible should be made because you get three pictures and odds are at least one of them is going to be good. Immediately following the film, these sold for about $25-$35 on eBay, and by the end of the first week they were closing as high as $100. For $25, it's a steal. At $100, it's considerably less exciting.

Reviewed and photographed by Adam Pawlus
Sample received on December 16, 2003
Reviewed on December 18, 2003.

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